The Sound of Silence
by Alsaice
Summary: Spoilers before finishing Akzeriuth and Yulia City. Luke thought he'd be a hero. He thought this nightmare would end. But he is too trusting and makes a foolish mistake, and touches the sound of silence...


THE SOUND OF SILENCE

**This fanfiction is extremely risky to read for those who have not gotten past Akzeriuth and Yulia City for the first time in the game Tales of the Abyss. It contains extensive spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

This fanfiction is based off of the events that happen between Akzeriuth and Yulia City, written in AP (alternate plot) form. This is not meant to follow the events PRECISELY, though closely in the case of the beginning. Once it gets to Yulia City, things start really changing, so it's more necessary to pay attention to what's going on. Things may not seem to work, but they just do. Got it? Keep in mind I wrote this having played Tales of the Abyss through only once. The whole second part is a really messed up, distorted perspective on Yulia City. Trust me. I know it's not that creepy. It should be. Simple as that. Lastly, the song used in this songfic is The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. Wonderful song; I used it as effectively as possible, bringing out its meaning and the (real) creepiness of Yulia City... I think you'll find the song really does work for the city!

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ND 2018: The young scion of Lorelei's power shall bring his people to the miner's city. There, the young one turns his power into disaster, becoming as a weapon of Kimlasca, and is destroyed together with the town. Henceforth, the continent of Rugnica will be shrouded in war, and Malkuth will lose territory. As a result, Kimlasca-Lanvaldear will prosper; that will be the first step to unprecedented prosperity.

Miasma... to think I'd ever care to know the name of a stupid purple poisonous gas that just happened to come up from underneath the crust of the earth itself. To think I'd care, to think I'd worry... To think I'd even know it existed. I wouldn't have, had it been only a couple months ago, when I was still trapped in the estate of Duke Fon Fabre, my beloved father, yet a father who would not allow me to leave. Psh! Did I love him? He didn't even allow me to know what went on outside the mansion, to never even know what city it was I lived in...

Sure I knew the name of it. Great load of good that did me. But I didn't know the _city._ At any rate, though, I couldn't say I was happy now.

After all, Master Van had told me the sad truth - the true words of the Score - and I had to do something about it! He'd help me... Master had always been on my side. I trusted him, no... more than trusted him. I knew he'd help. Now where was he? He said he'd be here!

We went into the mining town, shrouded in the purple haze... At least it didn't seem to be hurting us. Then again, it wasn't very concentrated, and we weren't going to be exposed to it for severely long periods of time. And it had to be worse deep in the mine... Seriously, were these people idiots or something? If you're mining and you know there's poisonous gas under there, you should be more careful!

Well, now they were screwed. It wasn't my fault, anyway. I was only here to fix the problem because it was written in the Score! And Master Van was going to keep the rest from happening. He said I had to come, and I had to use my hyperresonance to neutralize the miasma... Then everything would be okay, right? I could go home, and everything would be ok, and Master Van would go back to teaching me how to fight, and I wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again, right?

Briefly I wondered if I'd ever like fighting when it wasn't realistic... when I had to spar against the training dummies, who didn't actually have any will to retaliate like a monster. Sure, they were enchanted so that they would, but they were not unpredictable like the monsters I'd fought thus far. It was only a moment I considered the appeal of fighting before I realized... it was true, I would continue to worry about things. Everyone always worried about things, even when they knew things were going well.

I probably would worry, like I always had. Worry about my missing memories. Worry about ...a lot of things... what I'd eat that day and all. I guess I did worry too much. But I wouldn't admit it to _them_.

So where was Master Van!? I was beginning to grow impatient. He'd promised to meet us there! Was he in the mines? I frowned heavily at considering it... We had to go down there anyway, so perhaps we'd meet him... No, the more I thought about it, he had to be in the mine! I had to neutralize the miasma... surely I had to do so right at the source! But of course, why hadn't I thought of that before?!

Everyone else seemed to be busy helping the fallen, sick and weak of Akzeriuth; I on the other hand felt only like standing where I was and watching... It wasn't like I really cared about any of these people... Heck, I didn't even remember if Akzeriuth was controlled by Kimlasca or Malkuth right now, so these people could just as easily have been part of Malkuth as they could be part of the nation I was familiar with. Besides, they'd be rescued soon enough. What I did care about was meeting my Master... Saving Akzeriuth singlehandedly and becoming a hero. That was what I wanted... At this point, to me, saving people now didn't make any difference. When I was the hero... then it would!

Sighing, I yelled off after the rest. Tear and the others, who were all so occupied with "helping the sick and wounded" and all those stupid cheesy things. What the hell was up with them!?

"Hey, get a move on! We have to get to the source of this!"

Guy just rolled his eyes. "Well, isn't Luke enthusiastic?" Regardless, they all followed after me...

Oh... that's right. They didn't know that I was going to stop the miasma from the source. They probably thought we needed to head into the mine to evacuate the survivors who had fallen there...

There was a man standing there at the entrance to the shaft. I paused in front of him. "Has Master... er, Commandant Grants been here?"

The man gave a nod. "So you must be here to assist in evacuating the mine. Yes, Van's been here; he brought in a whole platoon to deal with the situation."

Good, so Van was here; he'd just been in the mine doing the same thing we were supposed to do! Gosh, that made me feel better. In fact a little giddy, as I anticipated the excitement of neutralizing the miasma. Knowing what Van told me, that secret he'd told me there at the dungeon of Baticul Castle, I knew I needed him to do this. I needed him to save Akzeriuth, for instruction and guidance...

We'd hardly stepped in, and then Tear was stopped short. Tear only... it seemed from their conversation that they'd found the Seventh Fonstone. What, was Tear supposed to look for it? It seemed that way, for she went with the soldiers who'd told her, saying she had to verify whether it was real or not... Oh... of course, she was a seventh Fonist. She should be able to tell. Besides, I think Van said something about it in Kaitzur... Though I couldn't help but wonder why they'd drag her off in the middle of an operation like this... Though as soon as we continued on with our work, what really caught my attention was the fact that soldiers were there. That meant Master Van had to be there, right?

And now, we went Into the mine, the deepest part of it, where they'd said the stuff was coming from. Yes, then I could find the source and neutralize it, right?

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before we came to a section that was hollowed out, far more than a tunnel, with a high ceiling... And there were plenty of miners in it who had collapsed from the miasma. Of course, the call to duty came pretty quickly... Each of my companions, ought I even call them that, went to go help others... Especially Natalia. It looked like she just couldn't keep her hands off the sick and wounded so far...

Crap. I wasn't helping anyone here; I needed to find Van, before it was too late...

Surreptitious was something I had never been, rather the very opposite, but amidst all that chaos, I managed to escape the rest of the group, going on ahead. Van... where are you?

Damn it! My head... I fell to my knees, feeling weak, holding my hand to my head... The splitting pain did little to comfort me, obvious as it was. What only made it worse was that sound resonating in my head... I could only be glad it lasted no more than ten seconds usually... I knew then that I just had to endure it... just long enough...

His voice!

Don't you dare take another step, you foolish dreck! Do you want us all to die!? You'll destroy Akzeriuth if you keep going like this!

What the... hell was that?

The pain faded... Why would Asch be bothering me at a time like this? No matter... I didn't know what he meant by everyone dying, and I didn't care. Maybe he knew the part of the Score Van had recounted to me, saying I would destroy things and stuff if I moved the people of Akzeriuth. Well sorry, Asch, but I won't be destroying anything... Master Van and I are going to turn the tables! I have to save Akzeriuth, with the help of Master Van... at all costs! For one thing, it would mean Master would be let free...

And after all that, I realized in an instant that I'd forgotten Ion... SHIT! Couldn't I even do something right for once? I needed Ion; Master Van had told me to bring him. Hopefully I'd be able to at least save Akzeriuth. Then none of that would matter, would it? Would it?

Luckily, it had only been a moment since I'd snuck past. I ran back in and pretty much seized Ion by the back of his robes, and started running. He stumbled and almost tripped over his own feet when I pulled him back. A likable guy, but kinda clumsy and stupid when it came down to it.

"L-luke?!" He whimpered, as I pulled him along. "Where are you taking me so fast?"

"We're going to save this city, ok!?" I yelled back, still running, half-pulling him as he was too slow for me. "Master Van is going to help!"

I might have heard him sigh, but I was too caught up with running, trying to find Van before everyone figured out I'd left. This was between Master Van and I! He'd said so himself. And he needed Ion, so he'd have to be part of it too...

FInally! I saw him up ahead, waiting for me. I felt immensely relieved... At last I'd come upon him as I'd wanted. And everything was going well so far...

"Master Van!" I called out, running up to him, slowing as I knew I was there now, and Ion finally regained his balance again, though it was certain he'd been shaken up a bit; even to support that, his hair was all out of place and he looked a little dizzy from all that ...being dragged, mixed in with the slightest bit of running.

"Good, you've brought the Fon Master." Van merely replied. That was a little disappointing. I'd expected a better greeting. "Master Van, will we neutralize the miasma now?" Ion gave me a startled look... Van just sighed, and put his hand to his forehead. "Beyond this door. Fon Master, if you would, remove the seal."

Ion put his hands to the door, and cryptic holographic symbols appeared, working about each other with movement and rotation, as though showing that he was unlocking some sort of complex lock... At any rate, he was working hard... I'd seen him cast a spell only once, there in the Cheagle Woods when he was being attacked by wolves... but even that had exhausted him... I had always had the feeling that he was weak, even when I first met him. Later on I'd understand the meaning of it. Why he was so weak, especially for being a Fon Master. But for now I just thought it was odd.

As he finished the procedure, the door vanished, and he stumbled a bit. Van strode right on in; I had the common sense to gently catch Ion and support him for the moment as weakness came over him and he came near to collapsing. The poor guy... He could probably hardly defend himself at all. No matter; I cared enough for him to help him out. It couldn't be easy being weak, after all.

I moved in after Van, supporting Ion with one arm, though he was walking better than before. That was good.

And as soon as I entered the chamber, I felt my breath leave me... It was stunning! Beautiful architecture... the whole room seemed to glow! Not to mention it was a staggering way up and down; the ceiling was dazzled in runes drawn from light, if only light could come from a pen. The walkways were clear in some places, but didn't look fragile in the least...

It was a long winding pathway Van was taking through the place, but I followed him obediently. So this was where I was going to make history. Save the world, all those things. Fitting, really...

At last Van stopped in front of something huge floating there in the middle of the room, a few levels down from the entrance. It was easily visible from the entrance; it's size was amazing, and the fact that it floated in midair even more amazing, but... Wow. This was some kind of seriously crazy fontech... Probably from the past, from that "Dawn Age" everyone was always talking about. I couldn't help but stare around the place even by the time I arrived where Van was standing. Ion hadn't seemed too surprised at the place even while he'd been there... Heck, maybe he'd seen it before. He had been the only one who could get in, right?

"Finished?" Van asked me insistently... I couldn't hide my chagrin at my inattentiveness. Here we were about to save Akzeriuth, and I was looking around like an idiot... I lowered my eyes, and let my arm down from Ion's shoulder. He'd been walking just fine... Taking a moment for myself, I took a deep breath, then raised my eyes again. "Yes, Master Van... I'm so-"

"-Don't apologize. We have important things to take care of." He looked to the huge object there. "Do you see... that?" He pointed to something... I could hardly make it out at this point; it looked like a small ring.

"The ring?"

"Yes." Master Van smiled. "Now, you must use your hyperresonance to destroy it."

"But how..."

Master Van shook his head. He was still disappointed in me. I felt so humiliated... "Calm down, and I'll help you." Another deep breath, and I closed my eyes.

"Focus. Concentrate. Focus on that ring with every fonon in your being... Open every fon slot in your body... Hold out your hands to it, let that power flow through you and into the ring...

"Yes Master Van..." I took another deep breath, let my eyes come open... and I concentrated. Concentrated fully on it..."

"Yes, Luke... keep going..."

Maybe if I wasn't so obsessed with Master and this task, I might have noticed that something in the way he urged me on sounded strange... I kept on focusing... It started to glow. Could I do it? I heard Ion shift, and perhaps give the slightest of reluctant sounds... It could have been my imagination...

"Yes... yes, just a little more, Luke!..."

All my concentration, from every fonon in my body...

It vanished, and a burst of energy emerged from the power of hyperresonance that I'd used. Ion flew back, yet Van and I endured it... Possibly because I had the power and Van knew how to control it. Van's eyes widened, and a smile spread over his face. "Ah, yes, finally..."

I felt dizzy... I wasn't used to this; it had overwhelmed me. "I-is it gone?"

"Of course - the passage ring, but not the miasma, you foolish replica... You were a fool to trust me! There's no way a simple hyperresonance could destroy all the miasma!"

...Replica?

Ion was weak, but he managed to sit up and speak softly, hardly able to form coherent words. Had the blast of power really been that intense? "C-Com-mandant, I c-can't belie-eve you've tricked h-him into d-doing th-this!" His eyes brimmed with tears. "You d-don't r-realize wh-hat you've jus..."

The reluctant sound... Had that been Ion trying to stop me? Or was it really my imagination?

"QUIET!" Rippling energy rushed by me, and the next moment, I realized Ion had been flung back against the wall yet again. He slumped there now as he'd fallen, unconscious. What the hell was going on!? I stared up at Van, in absolute disbelief. What was this; had I been... used?

"You've done well for me, foolish replica..." The ground was shaking now, but I didn't yet notice... There were other startling things on my mind... There was so much that didn't make sense to me. "You've started the world on my path. I couldn't thank you more..."

"Master Van..." I weakly replied, in a sense pleading. "What's happening? Why are you... calling me a replica?!..."

"NO! I WAS TOO LATE!" A voice cried out from the entrance. I looked up to see Asch entering with a great deal of force; fear and anger held in his eyes. "Worthless dreck, you didn't listen to me!" Tear was not far behind, but her presence went discounted as my focus was on Asch.

He'd told me to stop. Stop going to Van... and now I knew why. But what was happening?

Everyone else had come in after him, demanding to know what was wrong... Making their own theories, though right now, at least, they weren't blaming anyone yet.

Whatever had happened, it was my fault, wasn't it...?

"Van..." Tear hissed, obviously very angry with what he'd done. "You just wanted to keep me away so I wouldn't stop him..."

Van just laughed slightly. "No, no... You're mistaken, Tear. I wanted you to stay alive..." By now, Van seemed that he made the important decision to escape. He whistled, and two bird-creatures flew in, one picking him up, the other grabbing onto Asch. The boy fought back, struggling against the bird. "Let me down!!!" Punching it twice, he still found his efforts to no avail. (1)

Van looked to the bird as it struggled with Asch. "I meant to use that bird to take Ion, but you also had to get in the way of my plan. You need to stay alive, for now..."

Now, he looked down to Tear with a frown, and much to her dismay, his own love of a brother was evident in his eyes. "I tried. I tried to save you, Tear... But you ran back and got in the middle of this mess anyway... I had hoped to let you live as long as it took for you to realize how sick and twisted humanity has become... Stay alive. Use your fonic hymns..." As the two birds carried Van and Asch out of the chamber, the shaking grew worse and worse.

I could only stay knelt on the ground where I'd fallen from lack of energy ...I couldn't feel it returning. Replica? What was Van talking about? What had I done? It felt like the whole place was falling apart...

"What's going on!?" Natalia cried, kneeling by the fallen Ion. Guy lifted him up and carried him back to where the rest stood. Jade merely watched what was going on with little emotion, as always. "It appears that the Sephiroth supporting Akzeriuth has been destroyed. It is only a matter of time before the land falls from where it was placed when Yulia raised the solid land from the surface of the planet."

"What!?" Guy yelled. "Akzeriuth is collapsing?"

"Afraid so." Jade simply replied, pushing up his glasses.

"What can we do about it?" Anise murmured in a timid voice.

Jade didn't even need time to consider an option. "Before leaving, Van told Tear to use her fonic hymns. Do you think there's a song you know that could save us, Tear?"

Tear lowered her eyes and closed them a moment, even as the ground shook. "The Second Hymn..." She began to sing, and the barrier formed around everyone present.

"What did I do...?" I whispered, staring down at my hands, watching as they trembled. Whatever I'd done, it was something terrible... and in the chaos of my own fear, I heard nothing the others said.

In fact, I was certain I'd lost all knowledge of where I was.

And the next moment, I was certain I didn't feel a thing...

And then...

Falling... falling...

_Hello darkness, my old friend... I've come to talk with you again..._

A shock of pain coursed through my arm. I grabbed it out of instinct, feeling flushed, feeling hot liquid slick underneath my fingers. What was... happening? I felt myself laying there on the ground... I felt like I couldn't move, or shouldn't be moving, but I was.

What had I fallen on? I'd distinctly remembered falling, but... Wait, I must have blacked out or something... Where was I?

_Because a vision softly creeping - left its seeds while I was sleeping..._

It was all too blurry to comprehend. Shakily, I got to my feet... then I was reminded of whatever injury my arm had suffered, as another sudden shock pierced through me and threatened to drive away my sanity. I endured it with clenched teeth and a slight groan... Where... where was I? Where were the others?...

I looked out... It was so dark before me. I could hardly see the path.

Up... nothing but a deep violet haze... Miasma...?

_And the vision... that was planted in my brain... still remains..._

I took a shaky step forward. The ground felt steady... At least that much I had been blessed with. Little did I know, the chances of that had been very slim, and I was indeed more blessed than I knew.

So much darkness...

_Within the sound... of silence..._

I felt my way carefully along the path, stepping with absolute caution. I had the feeling that I could fall at any moment. And who knew what was out there? Who knew what was beyond that path? For now, it was straight, though I could hardly see. It appeared this path was completely straight, but it felt like a labyrinth.

_In restless dreams I walked alone... narrow streets of cobblestone..._

I was feeling sort of dizzy walking around... It was bizarre how much I felt like I was losing myself... Maybe it was the blood loss... Maybe I'd hit my head when I fell...? Or was the straight path really as much of a labyrinth as it seemed? No, I was pretty well certain that I wasn't completely conscious, and that my injuries were affecting my coordination on top of it all...

_'Neath the halo of a street lamp, I turned my collar to the cold and damp..._

The first thing that came to light, and literally so, was a lamp far off in the distance. A lamp like one might see by the side of the road in Baticul. I approached it as carefully as possible... It was, after all, the only source of light around, and there was a better chance I'd be safe in the light.

By the time I made it to the lamppost, I leaned heavily against it. I wondered why I hadn't seen it before... It had taken me some time to realize that the faint glow off in the distance was actually a light. And it hadn't been that far off when it came down to it, but the light was obscured... Was the air really that heavy? I could have sworn before that I'd seen miasma over my head, but now I wasn't so sure... What was this place, if it was even real? I wasn't dead, was I? At any rate, I could feel, I was certain that the air was heavy and humid, now that it came to mind.

No, of course I wasn't dead. The pain emerged again, almost making me scream. Surely that pain wasn't simply from the wound I suffered, which I still held with my opposite hand... No, my arm must have been broken. If I felt this much pain, surely it wasn't an illusion, right? Surely I... wasn't dead, right? It might be that this was some kind of purgatory, or an in-between world... where my spirit might be tested to determine whether I would go to heaven or hell.

Either way, I was sure there was no way I'd make it to heaven, the more I thought about it as I slumped against the lamppost, bowing my head. Akzeriuth was gone, wasn't it? And what about my friends?...

My friends, were they really my friends? Were they all dead? Were the people of Akzeriuth all dead?

If I was still alive, that was certainly the truth. And that would mean I'd killed...

I looked back to Kimlasca's census in my mind. Ten thousand people, probably more... I'd killed them?...

As I was about to grow sick with the realization, I realized there were more lights... Lights all around me. They weren't moving... how had they got there? Perhaps my vision had been blurry and was just now clearing along with my mind?

They... they weren't getting closer, were they? They were brighter... brighter still...

_When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light...That split the night..._

For the moment I was blinded. Again I could feel my body, but nothing else. A trial? Something compelled me to move, even if I didn't see... The things that I couldn't see could have been more harmful than I knew. A cliff, a ledge, a monster... or even worse...

_And touched the sound... of silence..._

I could feel the light, it seemed to pour into every crevice of my body, it seemed to enter me through the fon slots in my body. Even with my eyes closed, I was blinded. The light seeped in between my eyelids and flowed into my retina, all through me... The light was everywhere. The light was like the miasma... In my eyes, in my bloodstream, in my lungs.

_And in the naked light I saw... Ten thousand people, maybe more..._

It was only light in me, but the air still felt dark, everything felt so dark. And the next moment, I began to see them. One by one, they stepped out of the light... the light that was dark... Strange people, figures in the most plain of grey and brown robes, colors that were humble, and yet, oddly... eerie.

"

Faceless people. Heads hidden under hoods, anonymous people with the most drab, bland colors of hair that went perfectly with the robes. In some ways, I just wanted to listen to what they had to say in awe. In most other ways, I felt too frightened to move.

_People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening..._

They had nothing to say. There was nothing but silence. More and more emerged... It looked like ten thousand or...

or more. Ten thousand or more... Akzeriuth...

Shock took its hold on my heart. This was growing more and more unreal... Surely I couldn't be alive! Were these the people I killed!?

_People writing songs that voices never share... _

I thought I was going to throw up in that moment. What about the others... were they here too!?

I let out a scream... to the first person who came to my mind. I had to find out what was going on! I had to find out if I was dead!

"TEEEAAARRR!"

But it only added to my fright...

_And no one dared... disturb the sound... of silence..._

My breath caught in my throat as I tried to scream for help... and, the next moment, I realized nothing had come out...

It was silence. The sound of silence.

No... I wasn't going to accept this! I wasn't going to give myself up to this silence! It couldn't be real! It wasn't like my vocal cords were damaged!

And then... something was touching me. Something from behind. I gave a soundless gasp and looked over my shoulder.

There she was...

In reality, she was there. Holding my shoulders gently... and I looked, and they were all there.

Everyone I'd come with. Though I saw them all to wear the same drab clothing... I never saw their faces, either. But I knew them by their hair and their bodies. Tear right behind me, and then behind her, Anise, Jade, Guy, Natalia, Ion... and even behind them, Asch.

_"Fools", said I, "You do not know... Silence like a cancer grows!_

This really wasn't happening, was it!? "Guys..." I tried to speak. "This is all just a bad dream, right?"

No answer. I hadn't spoken any words.

"It's a dream, right!?" My voice would have been hysterical, but it did not come... Fear was gripping my heart all over again. And they were getting closer... Guy and Anise moved toward me, leaving Natalia, Asch, and Jade.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I couldn't help but scream. And no words came out of my mouth yet. I felt the light again... it was everywhere! The light, the people... I'd killed them, and I'd suffer for eternity, right!?

_Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you!"_

They hesitated in their coming, but Jade simply shook his head and they continued to approach. I struggled. "I'm not dead... am I?" It was probably the most rational thing I'd said the whole time... or at least attempted to say. For there were no words in this place.

"Am I?! AM I?!" My voice again rose to a hysterical chant... Or rather, it would have.

_But my words... like silent raindrops fell... And echoed in the wells... of silence..._

"Stop... STOP!!! STOOOOP!"

They looked back. Jade stepped forward and took hold of my shoulders as Tear stepped back. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel my body...

Then I saw it. I hadn't seen it before. Van was there... Van was one of them... one who stepped forward in front of the rest, and knelt there. Everyone else followed. And somehow, I knew it wouldn't matter who it had been who had knelt first... all of them would follow. And Van... I had killed him, too!?

The only ones who didn't kneel were my companions. Though my body felt numb, I realized that Jade had picked me up...

"Master Van!" I could only yell into the thick light.

And not even he heard me.

_And the people bowed and prayed... to the neon God they made... _

"THIS IS ALL A DREAM!" I screamed again. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!! I HAVE TO WAKE UP! I'M NOT DEAD! THEY'RE NOT DEAD!"

My body didn't feel like my own. Now the only word that went through my mind as I watched this through the disembodied experience was what Van had said to me...

Replica... Replica... Foolish replica...

If I'm a replica, I'm useless, right?

Why... can't I feel my body? Is it because I...

"Master Van!" I cried out to the figure. For a moment I could see him turn, feel his piercing gaze on me. I'd perhaps liked it before, but now it just made me feel sick.

_And the sign flashed out its warning... In the words that it was forming..._

"It's because I'm a replica, isn't it..."

The figure just turned away, as though dismissing me, though no words came from my lips.

"SPEAK TO ME, MASTER VAN!"

In that instant, I realized the silence was heavier than the light. The silence was what was killing me... The silence beneath my eyelids, flowing through my veins, breathed in through my lungs.

And I never heard his voice, though perhaps I felt it.

-You've fulfilled it...-

Fulfilled the Score he so despised. And I knew it. They were bound, they all were. I was bound. There was no way around it.

_And the signs said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls... and tenement halls..._

I couldn't take it anymore. I screamed, I screamed until my body wouldn't allow me to scream anymore. Why this silence?! Why couldn't I break it?!

There was no more hope. I had no choice but to accept the silence. I could only lay my head against Jade's chest as I lay in his arms, giving myself over to it. After all... what "replica" had any power to change their fate...

As I'd first been found, Tear had held me lightly, realizing I was in shock, and she did everything she could to whisper comforting words, though it was not so easy for her. Guy and Anise approached to do what they could, only to back off at my scream, glancing back to Jade...

Jade frowned heavily. "It appears he's gone into shock."

"It's bad..." Guy noted.

"Really bad." Anise echoed.

"We'll have to take him into Yulia City and get a place for him to rest." Tear suggested. "And we might want to keep a close eye on him..."

Asch just shook his head, muttering to himself. "And this is what happens when idiots are left to their own devices..."

"I'm afraid he could hurt himself..." Natalia whispered quietly, as Guy idly picked pieces of broken glass out of my arm. The blood had long since been dripping down my arm, running in tiny rivers, finally to flow in tiny drops, forming crimson puddles on the ground.

Jade moved forward, and carefully picked me up off the floor, ignoring my screams and protests, holding tight onto me, even despite the fact that I would not stop screaming. As soon as there was a break in it, he gently whispered into my ear. "Shh, Luke. You're delirious. You'll be okay." And it wasn't like Jade to show compassion...

Tear spoke up. "I've been here before. I know a place where we can let him stay."

Perfect. "Jade replied. "We'll take him there immediately."

"Do you think he can handle the truth when he wakes?" Guy asked curiously, though Jade merely shook his head.

"I'm not certain he can ever handle the truth."

_And whisper'd in the sound of silence..._

end.

---------------

(1) This line is dedicated to Miss Lanane. The one two punch, at least. ;)


End file.
